Also, take note of IDIOMS. No, not idiots, though you should mind them as well. Idioms are phrases that don't make literal sense. They are understood in a figurative way.

For example: "I went to catch my plane today."
People do not LITERALLY catch planes. But we know it means to ride an airplane.

Other idioms in English are "break-neck speed," "give a hand," "blow my own horn," "hit the hay," "two-faced," etc.

Often, they do not translate well into other languages because other languages have different idioms.
Japanese:猿も木から落ちる /Saru mo ki kara ochiru/ meaning "Even monkeys fall from trees" = Even experts make mistakes.
Tagalog: daga sa dibdib meaning "mouse in the chest" = worry or fear
French: mort de rire meaning "death by laughter" = equivalent of English text-speak LOL
Thai: 555 which obviously means five five five, but 5 is pronounced "ha" in Thai. So 555 is hahaha, used like LOL.

If you want to make your language truly your own language, make your own idioms. Like "lazy" could be translated as "moves like stone," or "heavy-body." What about thief? "Quick hands?" That's obvious. What about "searching fingers?" Or maybe a heavy-spender could be "Money is itchy?"

Click to expand...

For this exercise you will be creating some commonly used IDIOMS for your location.

Some more examples:

That man is a hammer in a tornado when he's angry. (Suggesting he does major damage!)

I woke up today ready to spank the devil. (Someone woke up ready to start trouble!)

About Us

Iwaku is a roleplay community. We don't just write stories - we live them! Roleplaying is stepping in to the life of a character and experiencing what they experience. Here on Iwaku, we're all about giving you the freedom to write anything you want while providing a safe and friendly community to do it in. Our site contains forum roleplay, chat roleplay, group roleplay, private roleplay, as well as other methods for living your stories.

Quick Navigation

Useful Links

Support Iwaku

We are a community ran by REAL PEOPLE! We are not a corporation or a company. Our server, domain, and software licenses are privately owned and paid for 100% out of our own pockets. To help pay for these monthly costs, we are more than happy to take donations from members in exchange for super spiffy extra tools and features on the boards. For more information you can view our Donating FAQs.